In Book 9 of Homer's Odyssey, protagonist Odysseus describes his encounter with Polyphemus the cyclops. Odysseus and his men entered Polyphemus' cave, expecting him to show them hospitality (hospitality was one of the most important social virtues in ancient Greece). However, Polyphemus does not intend to show the Greeks hospitality. The cyclops asks Odysseus where he left his ship. Odysseus, recognizing that Polyphemus likely wants to destroy the ship, lies and tells him that...
In Book 9 of Homer's Odyssey, protagonist Odysseus describes his encounter with Polyphemus the cyclops. Odysseus and his men entered Polyphemus' cave, expecting him to show them hospitality (hospitality was one of the most important social virtues in ancient Greece). However, Polyphemus does not intend to show the Greeks hospitality. The cyclops asks Odysseus where he left his ship. Odysseus, recognizing that Polyphemus likely wants to destroy the ship, lies and tells him that Poseidon (the quote below uses his Roman name, Neptune) had shipwrecked them on the island.
He said this to draw me out, but I was too cunning to be caught in that way, so I answered with a lie; 'Neptune,' said I, 'sent my ship on to the rocks at the far end of your country, and wrecked it. We were driven on to them from the open sea, but I and those who are with me escaped the jaws of death.
Odysseus' cunning in this instance saved his ship and the lives of his men who were still on the ship. Polyphemus continued to show his lack of hospitality by eating two of Odysseus' men who were in the cave, but Odysseus and the rest of his men were able to escape the island.
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